


Retail Therapy

by sheregenerated



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:55:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28223508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheregenerated/pseuds/sheregenerated
Summary: Yaz has been feeling a little down, so the Doctor takes her to a market.“See anything you like?”#12DaysOfThasmin
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/Yasmin Khan
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33
Collections: Twelve Days Of Thasmin





	Retail Therapy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [freefallvertigo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/freefallvertigo/gifts).



> Prompt was "market." It's not really festive in the traditional sense, it's just a super gay little thasmin fic. Hope you enjoy it! 
> 
> #12DaysOfThasmin

The Doctor had noticed Yaz had been a bit down lately, understandable given what had happened. She thought she might do something nice for her, and had an idea. She set the coordinates to a large inhabited asteroid she knew to have something special for her to share with Yaz. It had not gone unnoticed by the Time Lord that her companion wanted to know more about her. Yaz’s face would always light up whenever the Doctor dropped some bit of information about herself, like when she’d talked about Granny 5 in the Solitract Plane. 

This time, the Doctor would have not one, but two stories to tell about this location. As the TARDIS rumbled through the vortex, she hoped that she would soon have a third story to remember. The Doctor made sure the TARDIS was parked, checking a few buttons, when Yaz emerged from the corridor. 

“Doctor, why have we moved?” Yaz asked, though she knew the answer would probably be something that would launch them into some new adventure. Really, it was more of a ‘where are we now?’ The Doctor grinned back at her from beside the console, holding her hand out and wiggling her fingers to encourage her to accept the offer. Yaz wasn’t really in the mood, but she took the Doctor’s hand anyway and was led outside. 

“Welcome to the Tiaanamat Market, Yaz!” the Doctor said with a welcoming sweep of her arm. Yaz looked out at the vast, winding streets bustling with people and stalls. People meaning aliens, though Yaz was probably the alien here, there were all sorts shuffling about. The Doctor closed the TARDIS door behind them and paused to take in Yaz’s reaction, finding it far more intriguing than anything else around them. 

The warm light from the planet below reflected in her eyes like fire, her skin warm like candlelight. Her breath still as she took in her surroundings, eyes unable to find any one thing more interesting than another. Curious eyes took note of the new people and places to explore, the new environment and culture she would soon immerse herself in. Crinkles formed first at the corners of her eyes, then at the corners of her mouth as her lips drew into a wide smile. 

“First time I came here was with my granddaughter,” the Doctor said, starting to walk but keeping Yaz’s hand in her grip. “She bought me a Five Hundred Year Diary.” The Doctor paused at a booth and traded something from her pocket in exchange for a strange pastry of some sort. She held it out to Yaz, gave her a nod, and twisted her wrist to break it in half once Yaz had grabbed the other end. She continued walking and eating as she told Yaz that she’d had a few diaries in her time, they were helpful to her, especially since she was a time traveller. “Things don’t always happen in the order you expect,” she had said, “helps me keep things straight. Well, not _straight_ ….” 

Yaz was mostly quiet, afraid to interrupt the Doctor when she was revealing so much about herself. This was probably the longest Yaz had heard her go on about something personal like this and she didn’t want to distract her, have her close herself off again. 

“...came back a few thousand years ago with Clara, fought off a planet, nearly lost all my memories then– I didn’t, but imagine if I had and didn’t have any diaries! Always keep a diary, Yaz.” The Doctor had finished her pastry by now, but was still going on. For quite a while, honestly, she thought Yaz would have had interrupted with questions or cut her off by now. “Yaz?” She stopped, tilting her head with a sort of quiet concern for her quiet companion. She held Yaz’s gaze a moment, searching her eyes. Then something else caught her eye and she straightened up, “wait here.” The Doctor patted her arms before running off to talk to a merchant behind a nearby stall. 

Yaz hadn’t been able to pull herself out of her thoughts in time to reply before the Doctor had shot off to something else. It wasn’t out of the norm, so she didn’t take it personally. She’d been trying to absorb all the new information being thrown at her, commit it to memory. As if she had some dossier in her brain with all the information she’d collected on the Doctor during her time with her. Yaz browsed nearby stalls for a bit, going at a slow pace in case the Doctor came looking for her. 

“See anything you like?” A voice asked at a proximity that startled Yaz. She might have reacted differently if she didn’t recognize it by the time she turned around. 

“Doctor!” Yaz gasped, feeling a bit silly for it, but she’d been standing really close even after she turned around. She had the stupidest grin on her face, like she was excited for something that hadn’t happened yet. Yaz looked her up and down, “where’s your coat?” 

“Traded it,” the Doctor said proudly. 

“But you love that coat,” Yaz said, confused. She’d worn it pretty much every waking moment since Yaz had bought it for her in the charity shop. 

“Cherished items are the currency here, Yaz,” the Doctor said, “I traded it for something.” Yaz felt the Doctor’s hand brush against her arm, to her wrist, then her hand as she raised it between them, taking a half-step back. She slipped a ring of colorful beads around her wrist and brushed her thumb against them. 

“A bracelet?” Yaz looked up at her, thinking it was hardly an equal trade for her coat. For all the sentimental value that coat had for the Doctor, what could a bracelet mean to her? 

“Not just one,” the Doctor said, having a matching one on her own wrist, “they match like friendship bracelets!” Yaz smiled, loving the Doctor’s enthusiasm and thought she’d put into it. “But that’s not all,” the Doctor took Yaz’s hand as if to shake it, then slid her hand up to her forearm for a different kind of embrace. When Yaz mirrored her movements, the bracelets lined up and glowed a brilliant spectrum of lights. 

“They’re beautiful,” Yaz beamed, feeling as if they were bonding. 

“The ultimate friendship bracelets,” the Doctor said, still holding onto Yaz. “Even when we’re apart, all you have to do is think of me and i’ll know.” Yaz looked up from their joined hands and up at the Doctor, her face glowing from the rainbow the bracelets gave off. After a long moment, the Doctor let go, “I’m going to run ‘round the market so you can give it a try.” She grinned excitedly before running down the corner. 

The Doctor knew that the bracelets should work no matter the proximity, their bond could reach across the stars, but she still wondered what was taking so long. Yaz should have called her by now. She wondered briefly if she’d gotten herself into trouble, not unlike the last time the Doctor had been here with a companion. But just as she was considering going to check on her, the Doctor’s bracelet glowed and she came running. 

Yaz had her hands behind her back, but the Doctor spotted her space buns from a distance and wove her way through the crowd. “See? What did I tell you!” She took note of Yaz’s expression and softened as she revealed what she’d been holding behind her back. It was a striped journal– a diary– the Doctor took it gently into her hands, staring at it a moment before looking up at Yaz. It wasn’t often that she received gifts– too busy trying to help and impress others. 

“I don’t know what year it is for you,” Yaz said, anxiously filling the silence, “but I thought, well, I want you to remember this time with me, whether it’s a hundred years from now or a billion in the future.” Yaz knew her time with the Doctor was temporary, but she wanted those memories to last. 

“Yasmin Khan,” the Doctor said with great affection, “I could never forget you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Check out this companion piece: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28373064


End file.
